Desired capabilities

A desired capability is a property that customizes the test environment for a run: which extensions load, where the machine reports its location, what time zone it runs in, whether browser alerts are bypassed. Testsigma passes them to the browser or the device when the session starts.

Add a capability

Each capability is a Key, a Data Type, and a Value. To accept invalid certificates on a page, for example, the key is acceptInsecureCerts, the data type is boolean, and the value is true.

For an ad-hoc run, open the test case, click Run, click Desired Capabilities in the Ad-hoc Run overlay, and add the pairs.

For a test plan, open the plan, go to Add Test Suites & Link Machine Profiles, select the machine, click Test machine settings, click Desired Capabilities in the Edit test machine/device profile overlay, and add the pairs.

Tip

To remove a capability, click Delete beside it in the same overlay.

Chrome

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Accept insecure or expired certificates	acceptInsecureCerts	boolean	true
Change the user agent	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["--user-agent=USER_AGENT_STRING_HERE"]}
Add one extension to the session	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"extensions":["path/to/extension.crx"]}
Add several extensions	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"extensions":["path/to/extension1.crx"],["path/to/extension2.crx"]}
Emulate a mobile device	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"mobileEmulation":{"deviceName":"iPhone X"}}
Disable browser and alert notifications	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["--disable-notifications"]}
Use a custom browser profile	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["user-data-dir=/path/to/your/custom/profile"]}
Bypass download protection	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"prefs":{"safebrowsing.enabled":"true"}}
Allow a fake UI for media streams	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["--use-fake-ui-for-media-stream"]}
Allow a fake device for media streams	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["--use-fake-device-for-media-stream"]}
Capture the entire screen	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["--auto-select-desktop-capture-source=Entire screen"]}
Stop the password leak detection pop-up	goog:chromeOptions	String	{"prefs": {"profile.password_manager_leak_detection": false}}
Stop waiting for a page to finish loading	pageLoadStrategy	String	none
Set a geolocation	goog:chromeOptions, then geolocation	String, String	{"profile.default_content_setting_values.geolocation":1}, then 51.50735, -0.12776, 100

Firefox

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Accept insecure or expired certificates	accept_untrusted_certs	boolean	true
Set a geolocation	firefoxprofile	String	A profile object setting geo.prompt.testing, geo.prompt.testing.allow, geo.enabled, and geo.wifi.uri. See Set a geolocation

Microsoft Edge

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Accept insecure or expired certificates	acceptInsecureCerts	boolean	true
Run in private browsing	MsOptions	String	{"args":["--inprivate"]}
Launch in IE mode	ts.ieMode	Boolean	true

Android

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Keep app data across hybrid sessions on a local device	noReset	boolean	true
Grant the permissions in the app manifest at install time	autoGrantPermissions	boolean	true
Speed up clicks and data entry in a native app	appium:waitForIdleTimeout	String	1000L

iOS

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Accept every permission pop-up, including location, contacts, and photos	autoAcceptAlerts	boolean	true
Dismiss every permission pop-up	autoDismissAlerts	boolean	true
Stop Testsigma re-signing the app	resignApp	boolean	false

Note

Testsigma re-signs an iOS app by default, using the uploaded provisioning profile, and re-signing deletes the app’s entitlements. It also breaks features that depend on the original signing credentials, such as push notifications, which is why an app can fail to launch after installation. Set resignApp to false when the app is already signed under the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. The source documentation also names this capability ResignEnabled; confirm the key before you rely on it.

Mobile applications built with React Native or Flutter can be slow to record against and slow to run. appium:waitForIdleTimeout set to 1000L speeds up clicks and data entry, and it works on apps built with other frameworks too. Add it in the Ad-Hoc Run overlay, in the Record test steps overlay, or on a test machine profile in a test plan.

On Internet Explorer and Safari, the capability for accepting insecure certificates is capabilityType.ACCEPT_SSL_CERTS, set to Boolean true.

Testsigma Lab

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Limit how long the browser waits for the next command	idleTimeout	Integer	Seconds. Default 90, minimum 0, maximum 1000
Limit the total test duration	maxDuration	Integer	Seconds. Default 3600, minimum 0, maximum 10800
Set the environment’s time zone	timeZone	String	A city name, such as Madrid
Capture the console log for each URL	extendedDebugging	Boolean	true

Both timeouts are safety limits, so a test that has gone wrong cannot run indefinitely.

Note

Time zone values come from the IANA time zone list. Use the city name without the continent, and replace underscores with spaces.

BrowserStack

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Enable visual logs	browserstack.debug	Boolean	true
Enable local testing	browserstack.local	Boolean	true
Enable browser console logs	browserstack.console	String	warnings
Sign in to the Google Play Store	browserstack.appStoreConfiguration	String	{"username":"play-store-email","password":"play-store-password"}

Signing in to the Play Store is what lets you test in-app purchase flows, verify a payment through Google Pay, or run against the production build of your app downloaded from the store.

Testsigma capabilities

These keys are Testsigma’s own rather than the browser’s or the lab’s.

To do this	Key	Data type	Value
Run the browser in incognito or private mode	testsigma.privateBrowsing	Boolean	true for private, false for normal
Enroll biometric authentication on Android and iOS	testsigma.allowTouchIdEnroll	Boolean	true
Send a custom header, such as basic authentication in Safari	testsigma.customHeaders	String	{"Authorization":"Basic <token>"}

testsigma.allowTouchIdEnroll simulates a biometric event, so you can test how the app recognizes and responds to one.

Note

testsigma.allowTouchIdEnroll works in Testsigma Lab only, and not in local execution.

testsigma.customHeaders works on Safari only. Safari blocks credentials passed in the URL, which is why basic authentication there needs a header instead. Generate the token from a basic auth header generator with your username and password, then pass it as { "Authorization": "Basic <token>" }. After the run, check the screenshot captured at step level to confirm the login worked.

Pages that never finish loading

A 3D Secure authentication page, such as Visa or Mastercard, loads a third-party iframe running continuous background scripts. Long-running JavaScript and postMessage listeners stay active, messages keep passing to the payment provider, and the browser never reaches a fully loaded state. ChromeDriver waits for a pageLoad event that never arrives, and Selenium stops responding after navigation.

Pass pageLoadStrategy as a String set to none, so the driver stops waiting for the full page load. This affects Chrome and Edge.

Site permissions

Set what the browser does when a page asks for the microphone, the camera, the location, notifications, or the clipboard. Every value is JSON, and 0 asks every time, 1 allows, and 2 blocks. Separate several settings with a comma.

Permission	Firefox, with firefoxprofile	Chrome, with goog:chromeOptions
Microphone	{"permissions.default.microphone": 1}	{"prefs":{"profile.default_content_setting_values.media_stream_mic": 2}}
Camera	{"permissions.default.camera": 1}	{"prefs":{"profile.default_content_setting_values.media_stream_camera": 2}}
Location	{"permissions.default.geo": 1}	{"prefs": {"profile.default_content_setting_values.geolocation": 1}}
Notifications	{"permissions.default.desktop-notification": 1}	{"prefs": {"profile.default_content_setting_values.notifications":1}}

For the clipboard in Edge, pass MsOptions with {"prefs": {"profile.default_content_setting_values.clipboard":1}}.

Note

The source lists the same value, media_stream_camera, for both the Chrome microphone and the Chrome camera. The microphone key is normally media_stream_mic, which is what appears above. Confirm it before you rely on it.

Run Edge in IE mode

IE mode runs a legacy application that needs Internet Explorer 11 inside Edge, using the Trident rendering engine. It needs a Windows test machine with registry access, and Internet Explorer 11 installed.

IE mode hangs when Protected Mode differs across Windows security zones, so align them first.

1. Press Win + R, enter regedit, and press Enter.

2. Go to each of these paths in turn: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\1 through \Zones\4.

3. In each zone, right-click the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

4. Name it 2500.

5. Double-click 2500 and enter 3 to disable Protected Mode, or 0 to enable it.

Set all 4 zones to the same value. 3 in every zone is the recommended setting and is what prevents the hang.

Then add the capability to a test machine profile: on the Add Test Suites & Link Machine Profiles tab, click Link Test Machine, click Add Machine, scroll to Desired Capabilities, add ts.ieMode as a Boolean set to true, and click Create Profile.

Note

ts.ieMode works on Microsoft Edge only, so select Edge as the browser in the test machine settings.

Incognito and private browsing

Key	Data type	Value	What happens
testsigma.privateBrowsing	Boolean	true	The browser launches in incognito or private mode
testsigma.privateBrowsing	Boolean	false	The browser launches normally
Not passed			The browser launches normally

Chrome, Firefox, and Edge support private browsing.

Set a geolocation

Setting a location takes different capabilities in each browser, and a different capability again for localization testing.

For a precise position in Chrome, pass both of these:

Key	Data type	Value
goog:chromeOptions	String	{"profile.default_content_setting_values.geolocation":1}
geolocation	String	51.50735, -0.12776, 100

Keep the first row as it is. The three values in the second are latitude, longitude, and altitude. This example is Trafalgar Square in London, and Central Park in New York is 40.783840, -73.965550, 33.

For Firefox, pass firefoxprofile as a String:

{"geo.prompt.testing": true, "geo.prompt.testing.allow": true, "geo.enabled": true, "geo.wifi.uri": "data:application/json,{\"location\": {\"lat\": 34.052235, \"lng\": -118.243683}, \"accuracy\": 100.0}"}

The three values under geo.wifi.uri are latitude, longitude, and accuracy. This example is Downtown Los Angeles. Central Park in New York is {"location": {"lat": 40.783840, "lng": -73.965550}, "accuracy": 100.0}.

Note

Setting a geolocation is not supported in Internet Explorer or Safari.

Tip

Look up coordinates at mapcoordinates.net, and check what location a run reported at mycurrentlocation.net.

Localization by country

For localization testing, where the country matters and the coordinates do not, pass geoLocation as a String with a two-letter country code. Open the test case, click Run, click Desired Capabilities on the Ad-Hoc Run overlay, enter geoLocation, select String, enter the code, and click Run Now.

These 48 countries are available:

Country	Code	Country	Code	Country	Code
Argentina	AR	Greece	GR	Philippines	PH
Australia	AU	Hong Kong	HK	Poland	PL
Austria	AT	Hungary	HU	Portugal	PT
Belgium	BE	Iceland	IS	Russia	RU
Brazil	BR	India	IN	Singapore	SG
Bulgaria	BG	Indonesia	ID	South Africa	ZA
Canada	CA	Ireland	IE	South Korea	KR
Chile	CL	Israel	IL	Spain	ES
China	CN	Italy	IT	Sweden	SE
Croatia	HR	Japan	JP	Switzerland	CH
Czech Republic	CZ	Jordan	JO	Taiwan	TW
Denmark	DK	Malaysia	MY	Thailand	TH
Egypt	EG	Mexico	MX	Turkey	TR
Finland	FI	Netherlands	NL	Ukraine	UA
France	FR	New Zealand	NZ	United Kingdom	GB
Germany	DE	Norway	NO	United States	US

Emulate a mobile device in Chrome

Chrome’s own device emulation tests responsive behavior without a real device or a mobile automation setup.

To find a device name, open Chrome DevTools with F12, or Ctrl+Shift+I, or Command+Shift+I on macOS. Click the device selection toggle in the top-left of the DevTools area, which turns blue when it is on, and read the device list in the first dropdown on the top bar. Selecting a device updates the viewport to that device’s dimensions. The last option in that menu, Edit, shows the full device list and lets you add your own.

Use the name in the capability, with the latest Chrome version selected for your operating system:

Key	Data type	Value
goog:chromeOptions	String	{"mobileEmulation":{"deviceName":"iPhone X"}}

For a resolution Chrome does not list, give the metrics yourself:

{"mobileEmulation": {"deviceMetrics": {"width": 560, "height": 600, "pixelRatio": 3.0}, "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 4.2.1; en-us; Nexus 5 Build/JOP40D) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025 Mobile Safari/535.19"}}

Use a custom Chrome profile

A custom profile carries pre-installed extensions, a location, a language, and any other browser settings you set up once and reuse.

1. Open chrome://version during a run to find the current profile path.

2. Make the changes you want in the profile folder.

3. Pass the folder in the capability below.

Key	Data type	Value
goog:chromeOptions	String	{"args":["user-data-dir=/path/to/your/custom/profile"]}

The default profile lives here:

OS	Path
Windows 7, 8.1, and 10	C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
macOS	Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default
Linux	/home/<user>/.config/google-chrome/default

Note

--profile-directory is the natural argument for naming a profile, but a Chrome bug means you have to use --user-data-dir instead. To use a profile such as Profile 1, open its folder, create a folder named Default inside it, and copy the contents of Profile 1 into that Default folder, leaving the new folder itself out of the copy.

Add a Chrome extension

Adding an extension takes 2 steps: get the CRX file, then give its path to the capability. Once execution starts, Testsigma installs the file into the browser.

To get the CRX file:

• If you already have it, use it.
• If you have the uncompressed extension folder, compile it to CRX with the Chrome browser installed on your machine.
• If you have neither, copy the extension’s Chrome Web Store page URL, then use a CRX downloader such as chrome-extension-downloader.com to turn that URL into a CRX file.

Key	Data type	Value
goog:chromeOptions	String	{"extensions":["path/to/extension.crx"]}

For more than one extension, use {"extensions":["path/to/extension1.crx"],["path/to/extension2.crx"]}.

Browser console logs

The capability differs by test lab.

Test lab	Key	Data type	Value
Testsigma Lab and Sauce Labs	extendedDebugging	Boolean	true
BrowserStack	browserstack.console	String	warnings

Add the capability for your lab on the Ad-hoc Run overlay under Desired Capabilities, or on the Add Test Suites & Link Machine Profiles tab of the test plan, through Test Machine Settings.

Related settings that are not capabilities

Four things sit near desired capabilities in the interface and are configured elsewhere.

Network throttling

Network throttling deliberately slows the connection, so you can see how the application loads and behaves on a poor network.

1. Go to Addons and click Add-ons.

2. Search New & Updated Addons for the Network Throttling add-on and click Install.

3. Open the test case and click Step Above at the point where the slow network should start.

4. Create a step with the NLP Simulate network to upload_speed upload speed(kbps) download_speed download speed(kbps) latency_time latency(ms).

Profile	Upload	Download	Latency
Regular 2G	6.25 kbps	31.25 kbps	300 ms
Good 2G	18.75 kbps	56.25 kbps	150 ms
Regular 3G	31.25 kbps	93.75 kbps	100 ms
Good 3G	93.75 kbps	192.00 kbps	40 ms
Regular 4G	384.00 kbps	512.00 kbps	20 ms

Regular 4G is the default.

Network logs

Network logs capture the traffic between the application and the server during a run, which is what you read when a failure looks like a request or a response problem. They need BrowserStack as the test lab.

For a test case, click Run, select BrowserStack as the Test Lab in the Ad-hoc Run overlay, turn on the Network Log toggle, and click Run Now.

For a test plan, go to the Add Test Suites & Link Machine Profiles tab, click the Test Machine Settings icon, select BrowserStack as the Test Lab, turn on the Network Log toggle, and click Create Profile or Update Profile.

To read them afterwards, click Show Logs on the Run Results page. The Logs page carries the Appium, Device, and Network logs together. Click Download log file to take the network log away as a HAR file.

Screenshots on Android and iOS

Screenshots are allowed by default on both, and a developer can block them in the app.

On Android, remove this from MainActivity.java, or from whichever activity you want to inspect:

getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_SECURE,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_SECURE);

On iOS, remove the restriction imposed by whichever third-party tool disables screenshots.

WebView inspection on Android

Inspecting WebView elements needs debugging turned on in the app itself. Call the static method setWebContentsDebuggingEnabled(true) on the WebView class. The source documentation carries React Native, Java, and Kotlin examples as screenshots.

Note

The setting applies to every Android WebView in the app, and is unaffected by the manifest’s debuggable flag. To tie it to that flag, use WebView.setWebContentsDebuggingEnabled(BuildConfig.DEBUG).

Frequently asked questions

How do I test a legacy application that needs Internet Explorer?

Run Edge in IE mode with the ts.ieMode capability, on a Windows machine that has Internet Explorer 11 installed. Align Protected Mode across all 4 security zones in the registry first, or the run hangs. See Run Edge in IE mode.

How do I stop a permission prompt blocking my test?

Grant the permission up front with a capability instead of answering the prompt. Firefox uses firefoxprofile, Chrome uses goog:chromeOptions, and Edge uses MsOptions. 0 asks every time, 1 allows, and 2 blocks. See Site permissions.

Why does navigating to a 3D Secure payment page freeze the run?

The payment gateway’s iframe runs scripts that never stop, so the browser never reports the page as loaded and the driver waits forever. Set pageLoadStrategy to none, then make your steps wait for the specific elements they need instead of relying on page load.

How do I stop Chrome’s password leak pop-up interrupting the run?

Turn off the password manager’s leak detection for the session with goog:chromeOptions set to {"prefs": {"profile.password_manager_leak_detection": false}}.

Why does my iOS app install but not launch?

Testsigma re-signs iOS apps by default, which breaks push notifications and anything else tied to the original signing credentials. Set resignApp to false when the app is already signed under the Apple Developer Enterprise Program.

Why are recording and execution slow on a React Native or Flutter app?

Set appium:waitForIdleTimeout to 1000L in the Ad-Hoc Run overlay, the Record test steps overlay, or the test machine profile. It works on apps built with other frameworks too.

How do I test a site with no valid SSL certificate?

Bypass the certificate error for the session. Chrome uses acceptInsecureCerts, Firefox uses accept_untrusted_certs, and Internet Explorer and Safari use capabilityType.ACCEPT_SSL_CERTS, all Boolean true.